BarrieToday welcomes letters to the editor at [email protected] or via the website. Please include your full name, daytime phone number and address (for verification of authorship, not publication). The following open letter to Barrie city council and the Office of the Mayor is in reference to 'City says sports field to be smaller, closer to Lakeshore Dr.,' published June 18.
To Barrie city council and the Office of the Mayor;
I wanted to reach out and voice my comments about the waterfront (Allandale Station Park) Sea Cadets relocation and multi-purpose sports field and parade ground.
I wanted to make sure that you know that I am 100 per cent in favour of the Sea Cadets' move to the Southshore Centre. This is the right thing to do. Their existing facility is not up to anyone’s standards and a move is warranted at the earliest possible time once their new premises are complete.
I am also in complete favour of kids being kids and having available several sporting and educational facilities.
What I am not in favour of is a multi-purpose sports field on a naturalized piece of property that should be left as is.
What we need are options. Currently, there are no options other than the one to situate a multi-purpose sports field and parade ground on waterfront property.
This is the only option that appears on the City of Barrie website.
The crux of the issue started with the need for the Sea Cadets to have a facility to parade (mandatory drills and band practice). The initial request from the Sea Cadets was for a building that would house a 25-by-75-metre drill deck that could also be used by Scouts and Guides for larger meetings and small jamborees.
The Sea Cadets and the city have decided that if their request for an inside facility cannot be met, because of logistics and expense, then an option that was presented was to have an outside parade ground. The next step was for the city to then propose a multi-purpose sports field that would also be used for a parade ground required by the Sea Cadets.
The Sea Cadets currently parade in warehouses and at the Barrie Armoury. The seasonality of the situation is that in Barrie we have approximately six months of the year that outdoor sports and parading on natural grass or synthetic turf makes sense — because of the high heat, rain, cold, and snow.
There is still a requirement for the other six months of the year for the Sea Cadets to have a facility to have their mandatory drills and band practice.
I have looked at the dimensions of the General John Hayter Southshore Community Centre main floor (61-by-65 feet for a total of 3,965 square feet), so perhaps there is a possibility that a moderate number of drills and band practice could occur on the main floor of the Southshore Centre? If still required, the Cadets can go to an indoor facility whether it is at the armoury or a warehouse location.
As far as a multi-purpose field, I see the need. It’s just that the proposed location is not the right option. With the help of staff, perhaps other parks and sites in Barrie could be looked at.
We need options to say this is the only location in Barrie where a multi-purpose sports field can be located is not the right option.
Terry Forrster
Barrie
